The Seventh Seal

N

Nick

My teacher told me that i could not go into film without seeing this movie. If anyone has seen it, please tell me, is it worth seeing? :huh: or is my teacher just out of it? Because i've never heard of this flick.
 
the plot seems really cool. Plot Outline: A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existance of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

interesting. very.
 
o and by the way Zen, i was looking through the forums and found one of your old flicks, HELL ON EARTH, it was actually pretty cool, if your a fan of Dawn of the Dead. But, who isn't?haha.
 
Certainly an applicable and interesting nod to the biblical Book of Revelations.

Looks like an interesting movie. Never seen it before.
 
I just watched this again a couple of nights ago. Great film. Very powerful, Bergmans dialog speaks like poetry. I don't think theres one line in the film that doesnt have some significance. My favorite Bergman film is Hour of the Wolf.
 
I happened to have seen The Seventh Seal in my high school English class. I wasn't really one up on my fellow film students when I entered film school for having seen it, but it didn't hurt. Bergman is an auteur...that's one of those fansy film school words you'll be able to use in casual conversation once you graduate. It never hurts to watch a few classics even if you don't go to a film school. And the best part is, you can ususally find old movies like that for cheap to nothing in a library.

P.S. - If you want to be one up on fellow newbie film students watch "Citizen Kane"
 
finally a Bergman topic. He has to be the truly greatest european filmmaker and an extremely smart bloke to boot. I suggest you check this one out and a few of his others. truly remarkable film. Max Von Sydow is never better than when in a Bergman film.
 
More and more people are getting into movie making because of Tarantino and less and less because of other amazing filmmakers. It’s the nature of time.

Nick - I hate film school, but most teachers teach it because they love it. And most of them know their film history. Never dismiss a suggestion to watch an old film by a master filmmaker. Even a film you’ve never heard of. Even if you think your teacher is “out of it” or not as hip as you, or not up on the current, hot filmmaker - the chances are pretty good he knows important, influential films.

Even if you don’t love The Seventh Seal as much as you love Pulp Fiction, it will be a great learning experience.

Yes. It’s worth seeing if you want to be a well rounded filmmaker. As are ALL of Bergman’s films.

Thanks for that link, zen. Very funny!
 
The Seventh Seal is well worth watching, as is Goddard's "Breathless," as is Trauffaut's "400 Blows," as is "The Bicycle Thief," "The Battleship Potemkin," and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"

For anyone studying film, these are the basic building blocks of an understanding of modern film language. That isn't to say that these are films that I like, personally I'm not fond of the Seventh Seal or of Breathless.

However, this is my short list of "old films" that I think are stunning (these films are also great to drop into essays)

Kurosawa - Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress and Living
Murnae - Faust
Leni Refrenstahl - Olympiad (I know she was a Nazi, but she was also one of the world's greatest film editors)
Fritz Lang - M
plus
Anything by Hitchcock
Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men
and finally "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and "Harvey"

Harvey is my favorite, because James Stewart's performance in it is flawless. There had never been a greater film actor. :yes:
 
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I will have to rent this. I saw it as a kid and remembered how creppy it was.

Anyone here old Enough to remember the TV movie "Devils Triangle". That was one of the scariest films I ever seen. About a couple lost on the Bermuda Triangle and meet up with a group of people whos ship went down and are left on a dingy. One of them is Satan.


also, A movie I think was good was The Rapture", with Mi Mi Rogers.
 
Harvey is my favorite, because James Stewart's performance in it is flawless. There had never been a greater film actor.
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Soooo true, he's on my christmas wishlist :)

What, no Antonioni or Fellini? How about non-traditional filmmakers like Maya Deren, Bunuel, Alain Resnais?
 
I've seen Deren's short films and Fellini's 8 1/2 is great.

Its basically a fact that the Seventh Seal is one of the greatest films of all time. Brazil is very good too. :cool:
 
12 Angey Men :yes:

I stumbled on this one quite accidentally and I was a bit skeptical at first. Within five minutes I was hooked. Really amazing stuff. It was so intense I nearly didn't notice that it all took place in one room (ok two if you count the bathroom.;)) Talk about low budget moviemaking. Just proves that the story is the most important element.
 
What, no Antonioni or Fellini? How about non-traditional filmmakers like Maya Deren, Bunuel, Alain Resnais?
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Good choices, I cut my list short when I realised that I'd end up listing every fantastic film I've ever seen, a very long list. I didn't even get to Tarkovsky or Wim Wenders who are two of my favortites.
 
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